9/11 victim Peter Edward Mardikian: Gone too soon

(Note: Please remember that CNN will be rebroadcasting its coverage of 9-11 as it happened all day Monday, both on TV and the I’net.)

Imagine you are 29 years old. You’ve been married for six weeks to your college sweetheart, someone whom friends would later say that you wouldn’t have been “complete” without. You’re beginning to realize your personal and professional dreams. The world looks to be your oyster, and you believe that you and your spouse have the rest of your lives to explore it, all the while enjoying the comfort of knowing that you have not only each other, but the enduring love of family and friends surrounding you.

And then imagine those hopes being snatched away from you in the blink of an eye, without warning, without provocation. Imagine the chilling, horrifying realization that you will never see your spouse again, your family, your friends. That you will be leaving this earth much sooner than you ever thought you would be.

Such was the case for Peter Edward Mardikian, one of 2,996 victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on our nation.

As it was for most of us, September 11, 2001 started off as an average day for Mr. Mardikian. Peter worked for a company called “Imagine Software” in Manhattan. That morning Peter was on business, preparing a software exhibit for a trade show in the World Trade Center at Windows on The World, which was a popular restaurant on the top floor of the North Tower. As you can see from the picture, it had a spectacular view of the city. It was a city Peter Mardikian, who grew up in Princeton, NJ, had dreamed of living and working in. Here is what the morning started out like at Windows on the World:

“Good morning, Ms. Thompson.”

Doris Eng’s greeting was particularly sunny, like the day, as Liz Thompson arrived for breakfast atop the tallest building in the city, Ms. Thompson remembers thinking. Perhaps Ms. Eng had matched her mood to the glorious weather, the rich blue September sky that filled every window. Or perhaps it was the company.

Familiar faces occupied many of the tables in Wild Blue, the intimate aerie to Windows that Ms. Eng helped manage, according to two people who ate there that morning. As much as any one place, that single room captured the sweep of humanity who worked and played at the trade center.

Ms. Thompson, executive director of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, was eating with Geoffrey Wharton, an executive with Silverstein Properties, which had just leased the towers. At the next table sat Michael Nestor, the deputy inspector general of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and one of his investigators, Richard Tierney.

At a third table were six stockbrokers, several of whom came every Tuesday. Ms. Eng had a treat for one of them, Emeric Harvey. The night before, one of the restaurant’s managers, Jules Roinnel, gave Ms. Eng two impossibly-hard-to-get tickets to “The Producers.” Mr. Roinnel says he asked Ms. Eng to give them to Mr. Harvey.

Sitting by himself at a window table overlooking the Statue of Liberty was a relative newcomer, Neil D. Levin, the executive director of the Port Authority. He had never joined them for breakfast before. But his secretary requested a table days earlier and now he sat waiting for a banker friend, said Mr. Levin’s wife, Christy Ferer.

Every other minute or so, a waiter, Jan Maciejewski, swept through the room, refilling coffee cups and taking orders, Mr. Nestor recalls. Mr. Maciejewski was one of several restaurant workers on the 107th floor. Most of the 72 Windows employees were on the 106th floor, where Risk Waters Group was holding a conference on information technology.

Already 87 people had arrived, including top executives from Merrill Lynch and UBS Warburg, according to the conference sponsors. Many were enjoying coffee and sliced smoked salmon in the restaurant’s ballroom. Some exhibitors were already tending to their booths, set up in the Horizon Suite just across the hallway.

A picture taken that morning showed two exhibitors, Peter Alderman and William Kelly, salesmen for Bloomberg L.P., chatting with a colleague beside a table filled with a multi-screened computer display. Stuart Lee and Garth Feeney, two vice presidents of Data Synapse, ran displays of their company’s software.

Down in the lobby, 107 floors below, an assistant to Mr. Levin waited for his breakfast guest. But when the guest arrived, he and Mr. Levin’s aide luckily boarded the wrong elevator, Ms. Ferer would learn, and so they had to return to the lobby to wait for another one.

Upstairs, Mr. Levin read his newspaper, Mr. Nestor recalled. He and Mr. Tierney were a little curious to see whom Mr. Levin, their boss, was meeting for breakfast. But Mr. Nestor had a meeting downstairs, so they headed for the elevators, stopping at Mr. Levin’s table to say goodbye. Behind them came Ms. Thompson and Mr. Wharton. Mr. Nestor held the elevator, so they hopped in quickly, Ms. Thompson recalled.

Then the doors closed and the last people ever to leave Windows on the World began their descent. It was 8:44 a.m.

At 8:46 a.m. American Airlines Flight 11 slammed into the North Tower, slicing through floors 94 through 98. Those in the direct path of the Boeing 767 aircraft that had been used as a weapon were likely killed instantly. No one in the floors above floor 91 would survive, because they had no way out, and firefighters could not reach them.

According to Peter Mardikian’s wife Corine, he called her at 9:05 a.m. using a landline phone, one that was miraculously still working, on the 106th floor. Here is her recollection of the conversation:

“He said it was very, very smoky,” Ms. Mardikian said, “and he was worried about his breathing. He was talking about going up to the roof. I think he was trying to shelter me. He said he couldn’t talk longer because there were a lot of people standing in line to use the phone.”

So urgent was the need for air that people piled four and five high in window after window, their upper bodies hanging out, 1,300 feet above the ground.

They were in an unforgiving place.

Elsewhere, two men, one of them shirtless, stood on the windowsills, leaning their bodies so far outside that they could peer around a big intervening column and see each other, an analysis of photographs and videos reveals.

On the 103rd floor, a man stared straight out a broken window toward the northwest, bracing himself against a window frame with one hand. He wrapped his other arm around a woman, seemingly to keep her from tumbling to the ground.

Behind the unbroken windows, the desperate had assembled. “About five floors from the top you have about 50 people with their faces pressed against the window trying to breathe,” a police officer in a helicopter reported.

Now it was unmistakable. The office of Cantor Fitzgerald, and just above it, Windows on the World, would become the landmark for this doomed moment. Nearly 900 would die on floors 101 through 107.

In the restaurant, at least 70 people crowded near office windows at the northwest corner of the 106th floor, according to accounts they gave relatives and co-workers. “Everywhere else is smoked out,” Stuart Lee, a Data Synapse vice president, e-mailed his office in Greenwich Village. “Currently an argument going on as whether we should break a window,” Mr. Lee continued a few moments later. “Consensus is no for the time being.”

Soon, though, a dozen people appeared through broken windows along the west face of the restaurant. Mr. Vogt, the general manager of Windows, said he could see them from the ground, silhouetted against the gray smoke that billowed out from his own office and others.

By now, the videotapes show, fires were rampaging through the impact floors, darting across the north face of the tower. Coils of smoke lashed the people braced around the broken windows.

In the northwest conference room on the 104th floor, Andrew Rosenblum and 50 other people temporarily managed to ward off the smoke and heat by plugging vents with jackets. “We smashed the computers into the windows to get some air,” Mr. Rosenblum reported by cellphone to his golf partner, Barry Kornblum.

But there was no hiding.

As people began falling from above the conference room, Mr. Rosenblum broke his preternatural calm, his wife, Jill, recalled. In the midst of speaking to her, he suddenly interjected, without elaboration, “Oh my God.”

Imagine what it would feel like to be Peter Mardikian in that crowd, knowing that each moment may be your last. What would you think? How would you feel? How would you act?

The North Tower collapsed at 10:28 that morning. Collapsing along with it were the lives of everyone in floors 92 and above, including Peter Mardikian.

Destroyed with it were the hopes and dreams of everyone on those floors who were murdered that day in an act of extraordinary cruelty and viciousness perpetrated by Islamofascists in an act of war against America.

Mr. Mardikian’s life was snatched from him in a way that no one should ever have to experience. He will never get to feel sunlight on his face again, nor get a kiss from his wife after he’s come home from a hard day at the office. Any plans they’d made for the future? Gone.

A September 11 Memorial Endowment was established by Ohio State University in 2002 in honor of Peter Mardikian, who was an alumnus – graduating from OSU’s Fisher College of Business in 1995 with a B.A. in marketing and business. It’s also where he met the woman who would be his wife.

The online guestbook for Peter Mardikian has five pages of messages from family, friends, and strangers – their lives all touched by either knowing and loving Peter Mardikian or learning about him after Sept. 11.

At some point in your day, please say a prayer or a kind word for Mr. Mardikian’s family, as well as all other families who lost loved ones that day. They may be gone, but they are most definitely not forgotten.

Thanks to D.C. Roe for coordinating the 9-11 victims tribute. Click below to read other tributes to 9-11 victims:

Update:Malkin has posted her tribute to 9-11 victim Giovanna Porras, who worked for General Telecom. If you have a tribute as well, please trackback to this post or email me with yours and I will add the link to this post.

45 Responses to "9/11 victim Peter Edward Mardikian: Gone too soon"

I totally agree with these words.
Christopher Hitchens at smh.com.au link: “I am one of those who doesn’t care very much about the anniversary, but only because I think about those terrible events every day.”

Beautiful tribute. It’s poignant because it brings the sad events of 9/11 back so vividly, but I’m glad you wrote it just as you did. I will remember Peter Mardikian. Thank you for your fine tribute to his memory.

It is fitting on this fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks that we take time to remember and honor each and every person whose life was taken away too soon. It is my honor and privilege to remember Amenia Rasool’s life. Amenia Rasool died at …

Frightening to read this account and feel the desperation all these people must have felt. A very memorable tribute to a fine man…
It is overwhelming to read all the many tributes…but so important. Because it is the only way one can really feel and see a tiny glimpse into each life lost that terrible day.
My Tribute To Bill Hunt is posted.

Conventionally, countries fight wars against other countries. Territory is well-defined, and the objective — unconditional surrender — is clear. World War II is always a good illustration. Adolf Hitler’s desire for power obviousl…

Very beautiful and touching post indeed, may we NEVER forget these innocent victims just trying to live their lives and make a living.
May the Lord be with each and everyoe of them and with you posters to this GREAT SITE.

Just some images of that day. One is of Kenneth Marino, age 40. He was a NYC firefigther who died on 9-11. Ken is as close as TFM comes to knowing someone from that fateful day. See Ken and I shared a hobby and we both played in these tournaments ……

While the victims may be gone their legacy lives on in children, grand children, parents, siblings, husbands, wives and friends. People will gather together and tell fond memories and childhood stories that are unique to each soul. Memorial funds have …

One of the most striking contrasts between 2001 and 2006 is how Americans have distanced themselves from love of country. Watch some old 2001 footage of the aftermath of 9/11 and you’ll see American flags everywhere, shouts of “God bless America!” an…

[…] “Even in this desolate atmosphere we find something unexpectedly refreshing; humans and canines learn to commiserate and bond in a way that only friends can understand.” Thoughtful Blogging today: My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy WuzzaDem SisterToldjah […]

Today should be a huge reminder for the world, it is sad, sombering, and full of emotions. I went back and copied my post from last year of where I was on this horrible day and my experiences being out of the country with having to fly back. We s ……

I didn’t know John Gnazzo, but after looking at his picture while working on this tribute, he seems like someone I would have liked. He was vice president of operations at Cantor Fitzgerald but he wasn’t stuffy or arrogant….

This is a truly heartwarming story and there are many others just like it to help us recall 9/11. But, I was hoping someone could answer me:

1. Why do we invest so much money, energy and time remembering the murder victims of 9/11 and the rescuers who perished on that day; but when it is Veterans Day there is barely a headline or any mention of those who have served our country in uniform, many being killed to defend liberty?
2. Why did the families of the 9/11 murder victims and even the families of those rescuers who died on that day qualify for large sums of money and even lifetime financial assistance, while the families of so many of our veterans, even those killed to defend liberty, get next to nothing in financial help? Certainly, none of them get anything close in financial help or honor as do those who died on 9/11!
3. Why are the murder victims on 9/11 all heroes and our brave military fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan today are called baby killers and damn few are called heroes?

Forgive me, but while I feel genuine compassion for the families of those men and women lost on 9/11; I don’t understand why they are treated so well, given so much honor and financial help, while our brave military get so damn little of any of these things!

Maybe I’ll join the parades and special events one day, but only when our men and women in uniform; and those who have served in uniform in past wars get treated better than third class citizens!

Events createÂ unity among those who lived through them – aÂ form ofÂ collective memory which developsÂ in those with similar or shared experiences.Â Major historical events create unity on an enormous scale,Â generating bonds betweenÂ people whose li…

ST, thanks for a moving tribute and a glimpse into the final moments of the living hell the victims endured. I pray that such images are never erased from our collective memory so that we never shrink from the long struggle before us.

[…] Steve M. beat me to it: I don’t know how much of a chance there is that I’ll die in a terrorist attack someday, but if it does happen, let me say in advance, to any right-wing blogger who wants to bask in self-satisfaction by waving my remains around and posturing: […]

Five years ago, the largest terrorist attack ever conducted culminated in the murder of nearly 3,000 people, the destruction of the World Trade Center, devastated Lower Manhattan, badly damaged the Pentagon, wreaked havoc on the airline industry, and…

For the Fallen Laurence Binyon “They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.”

Before 9/11 the only view I had of the New York City skyline was from the top floor of my home in New Jersey. On any day I could look out the window and see the upper 30 floors of the World Trade Center.

So many people, with dreams, hopes, problems, loves and hates, and limitless futures, were cut down without warning, slaughtered without mercy, for no other reason than an unreasoning hatred of a Nation, and a People, who believe in Freedom.

[…] I’m not going to ask whether Muir knew her, or whether he did what other right-bloggers did and selected someone to ‘honor’ from a list of those killed on 9/11, failing to mention that they never knew the person. I’d actually probably prefer not to know. Because I’ve gone five years without having any idea where and when it’s proper to mention Wayne’s death, and mentioning it now makes me want to go hide in a hole, honestly. With a big bag of Funyuns and an AM radio softly playing a Yankees game — which was Wayne’s only major fault as a person. […]

Just revisiting my 9/11 2006 tribute at http://www.thetexastimes.com to make sure all the links are still solid. In fact I am writing this to you from the main dispaly window here at the times where your entire blogsite appears from the link!

I have made my 9/11 2006 tribute section a permanent main-menu-linked feature of my texastimes, including your linked tribute to Peter Mardikian.

You are here with us in Texas permanently, at the top of the Blog tributes list, along with RWS, Micheelle Malkin and the Lone Star Times tributes to our lost.